Roman pottery and post-medieval domestic finds at The Old Rectory, Church Road, Thorrington (EHER 80579)

2006 Test Pit 1 contained one sherd of Roman pottery. The rest of the finds from 2006 Test Pit 1 and 7 were restricted to the 19th to 20th century.

June 2006. Test Pit 1 and 7. Small numbers of pottery sherds dating to the medieval, later medieval and post medieval were excavated from Test Pit 1. These include Essex Grey Ware, Late medieval Colchester ware and Blackware. The majority of the pottery recovered dates to the Victorian period and was identified from the middle contexts of Test Pit 1. The medieval activity identified from test pit one was most probably from an isolated farmstead, which have been identified scattered throughout Thorrington. Occupation continued through the later medieval and post medieval periods, but the peak of activity appears to have been during the 19th century and has caused a deal of disturbance to 0.4m in depth. The majority of the finds are more recent in date and consist of concrete, coal, iron nails, glass and CBM, but animal bone, slag and clay pipe were also excavated, all of which derived from the upper four contexts of test pit one and suggests that context five may be an undisturbed later medieval layer. The vast majority of the pottery excavated in Test Pit 7 dates to the Victorian period and was found in all four contexts. Small numbers of Late medieval Colchester ware and post-medieval Delft Ware and White Salt-glazed Stoneware were also recovered from the upper two contexts Unlike Test Pit 1, the results from Test Pit 7yielded only later medieval pottery, but do suggest that the site most probably remained an isolated farmstead throughout the medieval period that continued to the present day. Again, like Test Pit 1 the peak of disturbance on site was during the 19th century and later, with finds consisting of iron nails and scrap iron, glass, coal, tile with fragments of plastic, an empty silver locket and clay pipe, all of which was recovered from the upper three contexts of the test pit. <1>